IGDA Announces Nominees, More Award Winners

Representatives from the International Game Developers Association have announced the nominees for the Game Developer Choice Awards, presented at the Game Developers Conference next month.

The nominees are:

Game of the Year
* BEYOND GOOD & EVIL (Ubisoft Pictures)
* CALL OF DUTY (Infinity Ward)
* PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME (Ubisoft Montreal)
* STAR WARS: KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC (BioWare Corp.)
* THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE WIND WAKER (Nintendo EAD)

Original Game Character of the Year
* Glitch from METAL ARMS: GLITCH IN THE SYSTEM
* HK-47 from STAR WARS: KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC
* Jade from BEYOND GOOD & EVIL
* Joe from VIEWTIFUL JOE
* Vince from VOODOO VINCE

Rookie Studio of the Year
* Big Huge Games for RISE OF NATIONS
* eGenesis for A TALE IN THE DESERT
* Infinity Ward for CALL OF DUTY
* S2 Games LLC for SAVAGE: THE BATTLE FOR NEWERTH
* Swingin' Ape Studios for METAL ARMS: GLITCH IN THE SYSTEM

Excellence in Audio
* Chuck Russom for sound effects in CALL OF DUTY
* Koji Igarashi and Ms. Michiru Yamane for composition in CASTLEVANIA: LAMENT OF INNOCENCE
* David Henry and Stan LePard for composition in CRIMSON SKIES: HIGH ROAD TO REVENGE
* Laurent Betbeder, Paul Gorman, Howard Shore, Charles Stockley, and Don Veca for composition in THE LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING
* Christopher L. Clanin and Tim Larkin for sound design in URU: AGES BEYOND MYST

Excellence in Game Design
* Michel Ancel, Jacques Exertier, Frédéric Houde, and Sébastien Morin for game design in BEYOND GOOD & EVIL
* David Chateauneuf, Patrice Desilets, Jordan Mechner and team for game design in PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME
* The Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando team for game design in RATCHET & CLANK: GOING COMMANDO
* Casey Hudson, James Ohlen and team for game design in STAR WARS: KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC
* Goro Abe, Hirofumi Matsuoka, Kazuyoshi Ohsawa and Ko Takeuchi for game design in WARIOWARE INC.: MEGA MICROGAME$

Excellence in Programming
* Jak II team for programming in JAK II
* Kim Salo, Markus Stein and Olli Tervo for physics programming in MAX PAYNE 2: THE FALL OF MAX PAYNE
* Dominic Couture, Feng Quan Wang and team for graphics programming in PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME
* David Worswick for network programming in PROJECT GOTHAM RACING 2
* Mike Rayner, Jon Spencer and team for programming in SSX 3

Excellence in Visual Arts
* Mickael Labat, Raphael Lacoste, Celine Tellier and team for art direction in PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME
* Akira Yamaoka for art direction in SILENT HILL 3
* Masanao Arimoto, Yoshiki Haruhana, and Satoru Takizawa for art direction in THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE WIND WAKER
* Eric Kohler and team for art direction in TRON 2.0
* Atsushi Inaba, Hideki Kamiya and team for art direction in VIEWTIFUL JOE

In addition, the IGDA will honor six development luminaries who have contributed to the game industry in various ways:

* The founders of PopCap Games will receive the IGDA's newest honor, the Maverick award
* Game music pioneer Masaya Matsuura will receive the First Penguin award
* BioWare CEOs Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk will be acknowledged for Community Contribution.

In addition it was already announced that this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award will go to Mark Cerny, who has been responsible for brining titles such as Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Jak & Daxter and Ratchet & Clank to market.

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